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As a site leader it is your responsibility to make sure good documentation is kept.
There are many reasons to document information, concerns and responses:
- Providing clarity to your emergency response team about what will be done/has been done, by who and when.
- During your own grief and distress, documentation is a reference point you can go back to.
- To refer to at a later time when you conduct a critical incident review.
Always follow your school’s record keeping requirements.
Many schools already have systems or forms for keeping records. This information covers some basic ideas about what to record when a student dies traumatically.
Information about the student’s death
- Date the student died.
- How your school was notified.
- How other students were involved: before and immediately after.
For each student of concern – their details
- Name.
- Gender.
- Year level.
- Date of birth.
For each concern recorded
- Who raised it.
- Who managed it.
- How and when it was managed.
- Who it was communicated to.
Groups to think about
- Students, parents and carers, friends.
- Staff, student wellbeing leaders or school counsellors.
- Police, the Coroner, other services.
- General peers, year level groups, teachers, mental health professionals.
- Other sites, governing council, other schools.
- Your school sector office, the media, other school sectors.
Communication and management strategy
Think about and record:
- who
- what
- where
- when
- how.